Carmine
by melti
Summary: A Vampire AU ft. the Durarara! cast. Orihara Izaya - ancient, powerful and manipulative - sets forth a plan that requires messing with certain hunters, bribery, and expanding his small coven. WIP, just going with the flow.
1. Chapter 1

"Humans are so interesting, don'tcha think?~"

Izaya shot a smirk at Namie, who merely rolled her eyes before wiping the blood on her mouth with distaste. She eyed the splotches of red on her pale, pale arm and scowled.

"What do you think, Izaya?" she deadpanned without looking up.

Izaya brightened at the question. He spun on his heel at the foot of the dark alley and jauntily skipped back to the bodies lying near some garbage. "I think they are wonderful creatures, Namie-san, especially those hunters."

And with no warning, Izaya snapped his fingers; the sound loud and piercing in the quiet of the alley. Bright, orange flames engulfed the three corpses; ugly, foul stench immediately impaled Namie's keen senses, making her feel sick and lightheaded. In response to the fire, Namie jumped away from her crouched position near the two male bodies and glared holes at her coven leader. Izaya seemed to not care about what he'd just done, however. In fact, he looked _bored_.

Namie withheld a snarl. The idiot could have killed her!

She stood up straight, clothes covered in the blood of her victims, and arms crossed over her chest. She continued to glare at the older vampire in front of her while wishing painfully hard that one of his plans will fail soon. The bastard deserved it, after all.

Izaya merely hummed in amusement at the expression on Namie's face. He walked away from the mass of burning flesh, a spring in his step, and Namie trailing sullenly at his heels.

* * *

><p>"I could smell the fucking flea around here somewhere."<p>

And indeed, the seasoned hunter _could_ sense the aura of the vampire, especially one as powerful (and familiar) as Orihara Izaya. Shizuo was trained long and hard to hone his senses, to sharpen his body and mind in order to track, attack and destroy the beasts that feasted on humankind and monopolized the world as they saw fit. It all started when his monstrous strength became too much for any normal human to bear, well into his high school years when it seemed like seclusion was the only solution. He was eventually forced to pull out of school altogether, and Tanaka Tom, his sempai, was there ready and willing to help him.

Only later did Shizuo discover the shocking truth about this uncanny strength: this monstrous power - it was all due to his genetic makeup, according to blood tests and tracing the vast history of the many hunting clans. Apparently, the Heiwajima family contained some ancient hunting blood in them - a trait derived from a distant ancestor who decided to settle down, get married and have a family away from the dark supernatural world.

Well, as normal and away from the supernatural as was possible.

Various vampire and werewolf attacks were reported quite frequently, actually. Of course, they weren't labeled as such. Instead the higher-ups of the hunting organizations manipulated the humans into believing the murders were the result of an enraged animal, a successful suicide, an impersonator, an insane arsonist: anything the public could eat up and amuse themselves with, if necessary. These incidents occurred only if there even _was_ a body to be found, however; identification of the dead was nearly impossible sometimes.

With that thought in mind, Shizuo nudged one of the burnt bodies with the toe of his shoe; watched through narrowed eyes as the ashes fell free from the bone, scattering onto the dirty cement upon which the corpse lay. Like grains of black sand pushed gently by the wind's force, the burnt remains spread across the ground, creating an even more ominous atmosphere in the shady area.

Heiwajima Shizuo was _not_ happy.

"This place just reeks of that bastard." Shizuo said with a scowl. He spit out the toothpick he was idly chewing on so it landed somewhere in one of the garbage heaps nearby.

The blonde glared at the damage wrought in one of the shadier areas of Tokyo; the three little "gifts" left by none other than a certain vampire were especially eye-catching, but this old back alley was also littered with graffiti on the walls, empty beer cans on the ground, and garbage strewn haphazardly on the dirty floor. The summer heat seemed to make the image stagnate with every blurred moment. The grotesque stench filled the hunter's nostrils, not failing to give him a pounding headache. The large and bloody cracks in the walls also gave indication as to what had occurred here earlier, and lest his mind came up with any more ideas that may hinder his mission's progress, Shizuo looked out to the the entrance of the alley. He could see the bustle and movement of Ikebukuro night-life.

This - all of this - it was disgusting, Shizuo thought as he gazed out to the colorful light source. - But it was _always_ disgusting. Sometimes he wondered why he contined working like this. It was not like him - bloodline and skill be damned: He wanted peace.

While he engaged in some inner debate about destiny and choice, Shizuo ruminated on the troubling fact before refocusing his gaze on the three bodies lying side by side, all burnt to a crisp in the center of the alley corridor so that their faces were unrecognizable.

Shizuo's eyes grew cold.

The corpses - there were two males and one female, and knowing Orihara Izaya, Shizuo knew that these people were connected in some way shape or form.

That monster.

Meanwhile, Tanaka Tom eyed the large blood splatters on the brick walls with thinly veiled curiosity. The pads of his fingers lightly caressed the liquid as if deciphering the markings like a blind man reading Braille - with expertise. He then removed his glasses and wiped them with a cloth procured from his suit pocket, all the while narrowing his eyes on the pattern and shape of the dark red stains.

"Yes. I can feel his presence here too." he said with a nod. The dread-lock wearing man turned around and crouched down to one of the bodies, placing a hand atop the burnt flesh and feeling the steady trace of warmth still emanating from the source.

"He was here three hours ago at the latest." Tom stated with finality as he turned his head upwards in order to gauge the irked blonde's reaction. Tom was ready for whatever reaction the blonde may produce: he'd gotten so used to the other man it pretty much became routine to do so. But luckily, his kouhai seemed to be working on his temper lately, and admittedly, Tom was proud. He should reward Shizuo some time for that. Perhaps a vacation...? Let's see...

Shizuo exhaled noisily through his nose, almost growling as he thumbed the trigger of his anti-vampire weapon in annoyance, eyes nearly slits behind his blue sunglasses. He really, really wanted to kill that fucking vampire. Izaya was the vampire who turned his own _brother_ just to spite him.

Kasuka became even more elusive and emotionless after that.

He'll never forgive that bastard.

With a quick turn of his heel, Shizuo left the alley, not forgetting to thank his vampire hunting partner and best friend since high school with a nod.

"Let's get him." he said.

Tom smiled slightly and quickly caught up to Shizuo.

* * *

><p>Namie paced back and forth in the dark apartment, thumb caressing the face of her brother Seiji through the glass of a picture frame. "If only you were mine forever..." she said softly. "Not that <em>Mika<em> bitch." And she cracked the glass, lines forming a spiderweb with Seiji's face at the center. A few drops of blood leaked onto the glass, covering his eyes temporarily, but the cuts on the pads of her finger healed within seconds.

Izaya chuckled from behind her ear and in response, Namie flinched and quickly turned around. Eyes dangerously narrowed and cold as ice, she glared at the other vampire, not caring to disguise the disgust and contempt she held for him.

"Since when did you get here?" she asked, accusation filtering through her voice.

"I was here for the past half hour." replied Izaya. He gave her a cheshire-cat grin, eyes sharper and brighter in the dark safety of the apartment, and aura more terrifying and powerful than ever. Namie almost shivered.

The female vampire huffed and removed the picture of her brother from the frame before tucking it into her long sleeve. "What are we going to do now?"

Izaya sauntered over to his computer chair, plopped into it and started spinning and spinning, eyes alight with something mischievous yet frightening at the same time. Namie gulped, but rolled her eyes at her master to mask her fear.

Then all of a sudden, Izaya stopped. He peered straight at Namie with an intensity that made her back stiffen and a shiver crawl uncomfortably down her spine.

"We're going to church."

* * *

><p>This was disgusting. Horrifying.<p>

Mikado whimpered as the tears fell from his eyes, trails of thick, red blood dripping down his chin and onto his uniform.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He killed an innocent man who was walking back from work, cut him from the strings of life and stole him from his family and friends.

He _murdered _to stay alive.

This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. Mikado said to himself. The mantra repeated over and over again in the chaos of his mind. He couldn't resist the thirst; his stomach felt like it was being ripped apart, his teeth were elongated and aching, his throat was as dry as sandpaper.

And his appearance.

Mikado wasn't one to care too much for appearance, but this time he did. He grew more and more frightened as days passed by, and he remembered gazing at that frightening monster in the mirror - eyes too bright, complexion almost white, gaunt almost saggy skin, nails long and animal-like - it was like he was staring at a living corpse in his reflection, with the addition of beastly body parts, of course.

Mikado hadn't left his apartment for days.

And once he did, he went to a church, some random one farther away from the city. He didn't believe in the Christian god or Jesus or the saints. But he always heard churches provided solace and safety from the everyday world. He hoped he could feel some of that peace. Plus, the art really was beautiful and tragic. He felt the crying statues were crying with him.

But once he saw a lone man walking home with a briefcase in hand, he didn't know what happened. The next thing he knew the man's screaming died down to whispers until nothing. The next thing he knew, warm blood was rushing down his throat, satisfying the deadly craving of his body, mind and soul. The next thing he knew, his mouth was clamped tightly on the man's cold neck.

Then he pushed himself away, tucked himself in a corner and rolled his body into a ball, bright blue eyes never straying from the dead body that he, himself, killed just a few moments ago.

'He's about the same age as my father.' Mikado realized with shame, and he buried his head in his tucked knees.

"Not too graceful, but that's okay." a voice said from his left.

Mikado whipped his head up at the sound, struggled up to his full height, and spun around, eyes crazed and fearful. "Who's there?" he said aloud, though the sound was muted. His eyes widened in realization, and his hands went up to his throat, grasping it as cold, stark fear shown in his blue eyes.

His voice was gone.

* * *

><p>Izaya smirked at the teen before jumping out from behind the bushes to land gracefully in front of the young vampire. "Ryuugamine Mikado, right?" He didn't wait for a response, however. He knew who this kid was; he'd been studying this little fledgling for quite some time now.<p>

Namie walked plainly from behind a nearby tree while dusting her dark clothing with one hand. She stared straight at the newly turned vampire. Mikado flinched involuntarily.

"Yeah, yeah. This is the kid you've been keeping tags on." she said offhandedly. She pulled out a picture from her pocket and compared the smiling boy in the picture to the horrified one in front of her. "Yup. That's him alright." And she threw the paper to Izaya who caught it without turning around or twisting his body.

Smiling, Izaya burned the picture until traces of paper fell from his hands, landing in a pile of dark ash at his feet. Mikado backed away, his mouth moving quickly, his head shaking side to side as if he was in denial. Izaya chuckled warmly at the sight and stepped closer and closer to the teen until the two of them were blanketed by the shadow of the church builiding. Namie crossed her arms and stood watch with a disgruntled look on her face.

"Now, I have an offer for you Mikado-kun." he said, hands playing with the flick blade he was so fond of. He kept his eyes trained on the boy whose back was flat against the wall. Then Izaya stepped a little closer so he was two feet away from the younger vampire. "I'm going to let you speak now, so act like the good, mature representative you really are, okay?"

Mikado didn't like being restricted from doing something as mundane as talking. Plus, this guy was powerful. Mikado could literally _feel_ his power tickling his skin, and for some strange reason he knew. He knew this man standing in front of him was one powerful vampire. It was unnerving, eerie, but Mikado nodded to show he accepted the conditions. His eyes were guarded and cautious, like he was expecting an attack from the other at any given moment.

Izaya clapped his hands in joy, nearly jumping up and down in glee; he really was happy too. He didn't feel like having a one-sided conversation. He'd had a lot of those with Namie already, practically on a day-to-day basis.

"Let's see," the older dark-haired vampire said with a smile. "Oh right! Would you like to join our little vampire coven, Mikado-kun? It's just Namie," he pointed at the bored-looking woman standing in the pale moonlight-...And that's when Mikado realized she was beautiful, scarily beautiful. Was it because this Namie woman was a vampire...? "-and me. We'd be a small happy family. So what do you say, hmm? You'll pretty much work for me too, so don't worry, you'll also get paid sometimes. But the jobs I will give you will only come on a rare basis. Sounds good, right?"

Mikado could do nothing but stare and trace his face from the handsome man in front of him to the beautiful woman not too far away.

He coughed a little, voice raspy before asking, "U-umm. Sorry, but what's your name?"

Izaya pulled back and slipped the blade back into his pocket. He grinned at the stuttering boy before saying with pride, "Orihara Izaya." He stuck his hand out to shake the other's hand, and broke out into a wider grin when Mikado slowly put his smaller one on top of his.

They shook hands.

Mikado's blue eyes looked anywhere than at Izaya's calculating and mischievous red ones. They were too much to handle, too eerie and frightening like they were looking through your soul and ripping it apart. His gaze kept darting around the scenery. A contemplative look passed his face - a serious one at that, which looked as if he were composed and concentrationg.

Izaya was pleased.

Just a moment ago, Mikado was trembling like a leaf, afraid of everything that moved, but now he was the total opposite. He was a smart kid, unpredictable too. An excellent trickster, though the kid wouldn't know that himself until later...

Ryuugamine Mikado would be the perfect piece. The perfect tool and the perfect subordinate. If he played his cards right, Izaya could influence this kid into something powerful and useful. Mikado had all the right components, and he was young enough to mold properly with his own two hands.

Plus, blame it on intuition or something of the sort, but Izaya had a feeling he needed this kid on his side. If that Kuronuma Aoba brat ever got a hold of him...

Izaya focused his attention on the reluctant Mikado when -.

"I accept your offer, Orihara-san." the teen said, somewhat back to normal - whatever normal was for the newly turned vampire. He couldn't stop staring at the dead body a few feet away from him, though: his first kill. Izaya followed that gaze and chuckled at the gaping chunk of flesh missing from the man's neck, or whatever was left of it. What a waste of blood...he thought with just the barest sense of sadness.

But that'll change in due time.

"Welcome to the family, Mikado-kun."

Mikado smiled hesitantly. Izaya grinned a closed-eye grin, smile stretching from ear to ear, and Namie released an amused chuckle.

"Interesting..." she said to herself as she eyed the pair of vampires that could pass as being related by blood.

What game is Izaya up to now?

* * *

><p>Shizuo's anti-vampire gun was slung heavily over his shoulder. He made sure to stay in the shadows - like those fucking vampires and werewolves - in order to stay clear of any prying eyes as he and Tom made there way out of the city.<p>

_If only he could catch that Izaya bastard..._

Then he smelled it. He smelled the fucking flea. Smells like shit if you asked him.

He stopped in his tracks and waited for Tom to stop beside him. With his eyes set straight in the direction his instincts were telling him, he grunted, "I know where he is."

Tom released the cigarette smoke he was inhaling and tapped the cancer stick so ashes fell to the ground. "Yeah. Me too."

"How the hell can you _smell_ the dude?" a voice asked from behind the pair of seasoned vampire hunters.

Shizuo and Tom turned to the source of the sound at exactly the same time. Tom's eyebrow was curved in amusement. "That's 'cause we have experience, kid."

Kida Masaomi scowled, but held the silver handgun loosely in his hand as he emerged from a bush. The blonde caught up with the pair before sliding the gun to its holster underneath his white hoodie.

"Will I be like that when I'm a little older?"

Shizuo turned to completely face the other blonde. He said gruffly, "You'll age fast in this world, that's for sure. You gotta trust your instincts, not just your mind. But yeah, you gotta trust in your mind too...uhh-what else?" The hunter scratched his head. "Sorry. I'm not that good at this stuff." Shizuo laughed at himself before moving the gun on his shoulder and shuffling his weight a bit.

Tom laughed merrily and placed a hand on the young hunter's shoulder. "Don't worry. This is a dangerous mission, yes, but the best way to learn is first-hand-experience, right?"

Masaomi nodded mutely. He didn't fear this Izaya guy...

...Okay. Maybe he did. After all, that _vampire_ murdered his girlfriend, Saki. There was no doubt about that.

Why though? Why her?

Masaomi had no idea, no clue. He just hated the time when he returned home one day, expecting Saki to greet him with that familiar smile of hers. But she was gone. A few tense days later, her corpse was found: one of her legs was completely torn from her body and her neck was covered in her own blood. It was a group of other vampire hunters - Kadota Kyohei and his gang - that confirmed the mystery of her death as a vampire attack.

He didn't believe it at first - who would? - but the facts pointed to that single, then-outrageous conclusion.

The result of the ordeal was Kida Masaomi vowing to get revenge. He just hoped he wouldn't run away again.

With a sigh, Masaomi put a bright, determined smile on his face and moved to stand on Shizuo's left. Tom was on his right. They looked off into the distance, three pairs of eyes set on the dark sky and ominous moon accompanied by thousands of glittering stars.

The same thought rang clear through their heads.

"Kill Orihara Izaya."

* * *

><p>Namie was surprised at how quickly this Mikado kid could switch on and off like a light switch. It was kind of creepy actually; he reminded her of a young Izaya, but with less psychotic tendencies. Though that can't be quite decided yet. She just <em>met<em> the kid.

Izaya was in happy spirits, and asked the two members of his coven if they wanted to hunt, get something to drink. Namie was already full. Izaya didn't drink a lot, but she knew he didn't have to; it had to do with his age. Vampires relied less and less on blood as they get older, but their power and blood richness increased granting them more devastating skills and abilities.

Izaya never shared his blood - not that she knew of - ; Namie was aware that he didn't want to give anyone his power. He's a control freak, in a way, Namie thought idly as she saw Mikado's face twitch in pain at the thought of more blood - but at the same time, he likes watching from the sidelines. He's a manipulative bastard and a good one at that.

But no matter what, it all leads up to one conclusion.

Izaya is crazy.

Period.

All of a sudden, a metallic bullet shot right past her ear, landing in the tree bark near her head. Eyes widening, she quickly crawled up the tree and crouched in the safety of its leaves and branches, hissing and observing the situation. Shouting filled the air and guns were blazing. Mikado, the new kid, squeaked and ducked as a blonde man almost ran into him. Some guy with a cigarette in his mouth was putting up some charms that she knew were going to be used to weaken vampires. His chants were growing faster and faster, and her mind was growing hazier and hazier. With a snarl, Namie jumped out the tree and landed on the man that she realized was Tanaka Tom, a famed vampire hunter. Namie's nails elongated and she scratched at his face and bit into his neck - once, twice, three times -all in different areas, satisfied at the _crack_ sounds that reached her ears like music.

Eyes bright from the scent of blood, Namie spit in the man's face, splattering it in red, before running to the other two members of her coven. She figured the man would die from bloodloss. Namie didn't enjoy killing as much as Izaya did. She felt it was tasteless. She only did it when she drained people to death, thinking 'it's a life for a life', take a life and add it to hers.

Izaya, on the other hand...

She quickly dashed to the other fights, watched from the sidelines and inspecting for any sly hunters that may be hiding somewhere ready to attack.

The cowards.

...

... ...

'Oh..?' she spotted something in particular behind the church wall.

'Who's that blonde kid?'


	2. Chapter 2

"Izzzaaayyyaaa-kuuunnn!" Shizuo yelled into the night, bullets cascading off the church building, flying into the flowers and tearing their petals to shreds.

Izaya merely laughed at him, voice loud in the vicinity as his cackling managed to raise Shizuo's temper even further. The vampire added to the flames of his fury and Shizuo gripped his gun harder in his right hand, teeth gritting and eyes glaring.

No matter what he did, however, his bullets kept missing their target. Izaya was way too fast, way too strong. Fears of failure clouded Shizuo's thoughts sometimes, but he knew that in time, he'll have all the experience and necessary information to finally kill the bastard.

Kill him.

Yes.

Because Orihara Izaya ruined so many lives. He i_took_/i so many lives.

And he was going to pay.

"Shizu-chan! I am delighted you changed your bullets! The old ones were getting a bit boring." Izaya grinned and crawled up the wall like a spider that crawled on its web. He dodged gold bullets that ricocheted off the white plaster, moved like he was a professional acrobat. When he reached the top of the church wall, he pushed off the surface, flipped in mid-air, and landed in front of the panting blonde hunter. With a grin, Izaya snatched the heavy one arm machine gun out of Shizuo's hand, caught it in the air and easily bent it in half before throwing it nonchalantly behind the hunter's back. The vampire wiped his hands of invisible dirt, smirking all the while, and got up close and personal to Shizuo's snarling face.

"Now what Shizu-chan?" he asked, playful voice goading him on. Shizuo roared and harshly grabbed Izaya's shoulders before the vampire knew it. He pushed the vampire onto the church wall and proceeded to bash is head in. Right fist, right fist, right fist. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Shizuo's punches were so powerful, Izaya's face was unrecognizable after only three or four punches. While that was happening, the force of the blows pushed Izaya into the church wall, his body quickly becoming wrapped in crumbling white plaster.

Shizuo finally released some of his anger, but one thing made his fury grow stronger as the time passed.

Izaya kept laughing and healing. He barely made the effort to fight back.

Then suddenly, the vampire's eyes narrowed - red, bright like rubies and grin so wide the fangs protruded from his mouth.

Shizuo felt an inkling of fear for the first time in years.

OOO

Mikado didn't know what to do, he felt lost and confused and scared at the same time.

That's when he noticed a lone body lying heavily on the empty street, thick blood pooling out onto the dark pavement creating a distorted red painting. Mikado knew he should ignore it. The guy was an enemy, after all, and he probably wanted him dead. The scent of his blood was making his stomach ache rather than making him excited or blood thirsty and it was a fact that he felt all too well.

The worry kept eating away at him, and he wished he wasn't so curious either, because-well, curiosity might actually kill the cat this time. Might kill more than just a measly cat, actually.

Mikado stumbled up from his crouched position, Izaya and a tall blonde man fighting at the corner of his eye, and he crept silently and slowly to the body.

Then suddenly, a gun was in his face.

"Mikado?"

Mikado's eyes widened as he traced his eyes from the barrel of the handgun to the hand that was holding it; to a sweater covered arm, all the way up until his eyes met familiar honey brown. They were dark and perplexed and swirling in a storm of emotions.

The vampire stood still and slowly put his arms up as a show of surrender. Mikado's heart was beating so erratically it felt it was going to pop straight out of his chest at any moment...

...No.

He didn't i_have_/i a heartbeat anymore. Mikado wasn't breathing either and with horror, he finally realized how different he was to his human best friend standing in front of him - Masaomi, who apparently wanted him dead (like the man he was going to help…)

Masaomi chuckled bitterly, his eyes crazed as he waved the gun around like a limp noodle. Mikado's eyes stayed on the gun. His life was literally in his friend's hands now and he was scared and ashamed and guilty. He never wanted it to be like this.

"Masaomi?" he asked, but then he closed his mouth promptly and covered his mouth with a blood encrusted hand. He noticed Masaomi's eyes pin themselves on his mouth-his fangs, which were the mark of a monster and a killer. Mikado looked away and lowered his eyes, which were too intense, too bright to belong to a human.

"You're a vampire now?" asked Masaomi, whose voice was littered with disbelief and accusation. He laughed again. "So that's why you disappeared from school. I thought you went back home to Saitama. I thought you had left me. Left Anri too."

Mikado wanted to say something, but he noticed Namie approaching very quickly. "Ma-...Kida. We are no longer friends. How can we when you're out to kill me!" Mikado smiled wide, maniacally so that his fangs showed imposing in the moonlight above them.

_/Please forgive me, Masaomi. It's better this way_./

He made his eyes ice cold and narrowed as he forced his body to be tall, confident and intimidating. He stalked closer and closer to Masaomi, who seemed to snap out of surprise, as he tried to push the blonde away from the oncoming female vampire.

_/I'm sorry./ _

Masaomi pointed his gun straight at Mikado's eyes, narrowed his own eyes back as he threatened in a voice Mikado heard rarely,

"I could kill you right now and at this very moment, Mikado. I know you were turned recently. You can't survive this bullet. Not now. Not for a while. You'll die a painful death and no one would care because you'd die a monster. You'd die a killer."

Mikado laughed darkly in response. He pushed forward so the gun was pushed into his skin. "Do it." he said, eyes peering intensely into Masaomi's own dark ones.

The blonde hunter cocked his gun, pulled back the metal so a click rang out. Mikado saw Namie within twenty feet of them, running, more like floating with how graceful she looked - and quickly coming up behind Masaomi's back.

Mikado leaned forward and bit his friend in the neck, cutting through the flesh and tearing skin. Blood poured heavily from the wound. Masaomi's sharp gasp was loud and clear and Mikado's blue eyes flared brighter than before as soon as the red liquid hit his palate.

_/I'm sorry./_

Masaomi pulled the trigger.

OOO

Izaya and Shizuo looked away from their fight as they heard a loud bang. And when they saw the image: smoke coming out of the barrel of Masaomi's gun, Namie's standing between a fallen Mikado and a wide eyed Masaomi, they noticed the gun was pointed a little ways to the right. It was pointed at Mikado just a few moments ago, that's for sure.

Masaomi stood stock-still, blood oozing from his neck as Namie pulled Mikado up none-too-gently and ran away with him to some place safe. Their bodies melded together and moved as a blur-only vampire, werewolves and hunters could see them.

And then Izaya's smirk returned to his face and he bit down on Shizuo's own neck, eliciting a sharp grunt from the blonde.

Shizuo yelled a string of curses as the too long fangs remained embedded in his flesh, and then Izaya pulled out, backhanded the hunter so hard until a crack was heard and ran away in the direction of his coven. When he was 30 feet away he turned around and waved while shouting in glee, "That was fun, Shizu-chan! I hope we can do it again next time!"

Shizuo held the side of his neck tightly, blood gushing out and staining his shirt as he removed himself from the destroyed church wall.

"Oh yeah!," Izaya added. "Nice hunting group you got there!"

And he fled. Fast, like a shadow slinking against the darkness of night.

Shizuo groaned, cursed some more before observing his surroundings. The place was destroyed; the gardens were a mess, the church wall was cracked in several places, blood dripped down one of the prominent cracks where Izaya's face was bludgeoned, the trees bore numerous bullets, Masaomi was still frozen as he stood on the street alone, and Tom was lying on his back, his breathing erratic.

Shizuo sighed and kicked the wall. "Dammit!"

This situation was horrible.

The notorious hunter took out his phone and called a familiar number, "Celty, Shinra, we need your help."

OOO

Izaya found Namie and Mikado hiding inside the darkened church. Namie was sitting in the front pew, shooting looks at Mikado once in a while and sighing several times. She gently held the picture of Seiji in her hands and as Izaya eased himself closer by walking down the middle aisle, he could see she was tracing the contours of her brother's face with her fingertip.

Mikado was kneeling in front of the altar. His head was tilted down and an uncomfortable silence surrounded the two vampires.

"Oi!" he greeted the pair, walking steadily down the aisle, dragging his feet on the long trail of rug with a little jump to his movements.

No one moved, but Namie's eyes met his for a brief moment before returning to the picture in her hold.

Izaya pouted.

"Come on now!~ The sun's gonna rise soon. We must head back to our little headquarters so we don't burn to death. We don't want that now, do we?"

Namie promptly removed herself from the pew, brushing back her long dark hair and folding the picture neatly and gently. Izaya nearly twitched. They needed to get back now - more for Mikado and Namie's sake than his own - but he didn't want them to all die on him.

That would set his plans back for _years_.

After Namie told him she was ready to leave, Izaya said to the kneeling boy, "Mikado-kun! We need to get going now. I don't think you'll enjoy the sun that much..." he walked a few steps closer to the young vampire. When he received no response, his voice darkened in warning. "It hurts. A lot."

Mikado snapped out of his musings at the sound and shivered involuntarily. Izaya withheld a smirk and helped the other up, smiling when Mikado nodded mutely and moved to follow Namie.

Namie shook her head, though Izaya could tell she was nervous. He had that effect on people, after all.

The trio made their way out of the church, the sun rising steadily, peeking out behind the clouds as dawn approached. Izaya scowled, Namie's face was unreadable and Mikado's face was scrunched in worry.

"I guess we'll have to move quickly." Izaya said with a hyena smile. "—or we can wait out the day and stay indoors the whole time, though its much more painful and difficult to resist the urge to attack in broad daylight. I guess it's okay if you don't need blood, but...we're also gonna be vulnerable to hunters and the like." He turned around and asked his coven. "What do you wanna do, hmm?"

Mikado and Namie seemed to agree on the obvious solution. "I'd like to get back to your place, if you don't mind, Izaya-san."

Namie nodded and transferred her weight to her other leg, eyes trained on the moving sphere of light. "Yes. I agree with the kid. We should head back to the apartment. It's the safest, especially for Ryuugamine-kun."

Izaya smirked. He knew it.

"Okay then, let's go."

The group of vampire stayed in the shadows, hid between buildings and used secret passageways to get into Tokyo. It became more difficult to slip past unseen with the large population of humans milling about, and Mikado needed help to manage it. His vampire features were still prominent: a sign that a vampire is either a.) hungry for blood or b.) a fledgling. Izaya guessed it might be both, but it was too risky to even try to acquire a meal in broad daylight. Mikado would have to deal with it for now, but the vampire knew he could manage it well enough.

They were now somewhere with less people and a small Shinto shrine peeked out strangely amongst the buildings. Mikado was panting heavily now and Namie appeared the tracest amount of worried. Her eyes kept darting to the blue-eyed vampire.

Izaya led them into the secluded area of the shrine, the inside where the monks stood guard. Mikado fell right to his knees when they ended up in a small room decorated with statues and figures of Shinto gods and spirits.

Namie suddenly declared from her position near Izaya, "He needs to feed, Izaya."

Izaya nodded. "Yeah. I know."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I wasn't so sure with Mikado-kun. He's really unpredictable and hard to read." he smiled and cocked his head to the side, chuckling as his sharp features grated on the female's nerves. "I'm not quite powerful enough to read minds yet, but that's all in due time."

Namie's face tightened.

"I'll go get him something. Don't worry. Just watch him while I'm out, okay, Namie-san?"

Namie nodded before leaning against the wall and crossing her arms. Izaya smirked. "Well?" she said, giving him a look.

Izaya laughed merrily and left the shrine in a billow of dark clothing.


End file.
